1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to animal traps; and, more particularly, to an improved animal trap for trapping and disposing of rodents or the like in an environmentally safe manner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various animal traps have been suggested over the years for trapping and/or disposing of undesirable animals, such as rats and mice. Some of these devices merely trap an animal for subsequent disposition, some both trap and kill the animal which requires messy cleaning of the device and removal of the dead animal and some both trap and kill the animal without creating a mess. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,738,623 to Westerlund, an animal is trapped and disposed of by electrical shock. However, it is possible that the animal will either not die from the shock or not fall into the disposal tank, requiring removal by other means, or will die without falling into the disposal tank again requiring touching of the dead animal to remove the same. Also, since the device of Westerlund is actuated by electrical means, the circuitry could stick or otherwise fail to operate resulting in merely trapping the animal without killing the same.
A similar apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 821,366 to Klousnitzer. In this patent, the rat enters an opening into a housing and must tilt a platform to enter a passage leading to the bait. However, the platform is so near the opening that, as soon as it begins to tilt, the rat would get frightened and quickly want to escape by retracing his route. Also, the rat must then climb a tower to another tilting platform for disposal by drowning. It is conceivable that the rat will get frightened before it reaches the second platform and remain trapped in the device without being killed requiring manual removal while still alive.
There is thus a need for a safe, efficient and economical animal trap which both traps and disposes of an animal in an environmentally safe manner without the necessity of physically touching the animal, which trap is automatically resettable in like manner, as may be desired.